GDT: #1 – Blue Jackets at Sabres – Thu Oct 9, 7:00PM ET – MSG-B, Bell TV – WGR

[Woodhouse]

CBJ (0-0-0) at BUF (0-0-0) – THU OCT 9, 7:00PM ET – MSG-B, BELL TV – WGR – CHAT

Gameday Headlines

Myers ready for new season: ‘I’m back to my normal self’ – Bill Hoppe, Olean Times Herald

Sabres’ Stafford maintains glass half-full mentality – Mike Harrington, TBN

Sabres coach becomes better man during time in exile – John Vogl, TBN

Jackets say they'll 'deal' with injuries – Shawn Mitchell, Columbus Dispatch

Blue Jackets out to avoid another slow start – Aaron Portzline, Columbus Dispatch

No animosity for Johansen, but there is some rust – Bob Hunter, Columbus Dispatch

Game Preview: 10/9/14 vs. CBJ – Ian Ott, Sabres PR

Press Clips: 10/9/14 vs. CBJ – Ian Ott, Sabres PR

Previous Headlines

Reinhart to make NHL debut Thursday night – Chris Ryndak, Sabres.com

Reinhart has roster spot, but for how long? – Bill Hoppe, Olean Times Herald

Johansen's debut undecided as Jackets await his arrival – Rob Mixer, BlueJackets.com

Gionta honored to be named captain – Chris Ryndak, Sabres.com

Dubinsky injury "a big blow," but also a big opportunity for others – Rob Mixer, BlueJackets.com

Sabres looking forward to opening night – Chris Ryndak, Sabres.com​

BUFFALO SABRES

Projected Lineup

26 Matt Moulson – 63 Tyler Ennis – 21 Drew Stafford
82 Marcus Foligno – 28 Zemgus Girgensons – 80 Chris Stewart
19 Cody Hodgson – 23 Sam Reinhart – 12 Brian Gionta
44 Nicolas Deslauriers – 8 Cody McCormick – 17 Torrey Mitchell
x: 65 Brian Flynn

4 Josh Gorges – 57 Tyler Myers
61 Andre Benoit – 41 Andrej Meszaros
6 Mike Weber – 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
x: 51 Nikita Zadorov – 24 Tyson Strachan

1 Jhonas Enroth
34 Michal Neuvirth

Lineup News & Notes

Matt Hackett (knee), Patrick Kaleta (face), Johan Larsson (head), Jake McCabe (undisclosed), and
Mark Pysyk (UBI) open the season on injured reserve for Buffalo. The last cuts from training camp
were Zac Dalpe and Mikhail Grigorenko, with both getting reassigned to Rochester.

According to the Stats

Buffalo went 1-1-1 versus Columbus in 2013-14 and 0-1-1 at home.​

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Projected Lineup

71 Nick Foligno – 19 Ryan Johansen – 13 Cam Atkinson
43 Scott Hartnell – 42 Artem Anisimov – 56 Marko Dano
11 Matt Calvert – 55 Mark Letestu – 41 Alexander Wennberg
10 Jack Skille – 39 Michael Chaput – 40 Jared Boll
x: 26 Corey Tropp, 32 Adam Cracknell

7 Jack Johnson – 58 David Savard
20 Tim Erixon – 21 James Wisniewski
51 Fedor Tyutin – 47 Dalton Prout
x: 48 Cody Goloubef

72 Sergei Bobrovsky
30 Curtis McElhinney

Lineup News & Notes

Brandon Dubinsky (LBI), Brian Gibbons (undisclosed), Nathan Horton (back), Boone Jenner (hand),
Sonny Milano (face), and Ryan Murray (knee) open the season on injured reserve for Columbus.
Jerry D'Amigo was the last player reassigned to Springfield, while Adam Cracknell was claimed off
waivers from Los Angeles on Tuesday.

According to the Stats

Columbus went 2-1-0 versus Buffalo in 2013-14 and 2-0-0 at Buffalo.​

NHL VIDEOCENTER

Buffalo Sabres (for the latest videos, visit what's new)

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Columbus Blue Jackets (for the latest videos, visit what's new)

[NHL]638738[/NHL]​

Click to read more...

 

[Paxon]

FIRST POST OF THE SEASON

Let's Go Buffalo! Win them all... in spirit!

 

[EichHart]

Here we go... ^_^

 

[enthusiast]

theme for the year, please plan gdts accordingly

 

[Myllz]

10-9 regulation loss. Reinhart with all 9 goals.

 

[ZZamboni]

3-1 Columbus

Start this season off right

 

[mgeise]

No Weber please.

 

[jBuds]

3-1 Jacquittzsce

Just pumped to be here, folks. Glad we are getting back into normalcy.

 

[Ness]

RyJo should be back in the lineup for CBJ.

The countdown to McDavid/Eichel is beginning. It's here. This is real.

 

[cardiffgiant]

If they're keeping Zadorov up for a 10 game evaluation, they would dress him right? I'm not suggesting that he's NHL ready.

 

[Jacob582]

No Weber please.

My 4 year old son comes home from school saying: "you'll like what you get, and you don't get upset."

 

[26CornerBlitz]

@BuffaloSabres

Don't forget: We'll get things started for our home opener on Thursday with a #PartyInThePlaza http://goo.gl/TGEkI5

 

[Deevo]

Predictions:
i) We win this game convincingly
ii) Ennis and Stewart both have great games.
iii) Sabres board explodes in panic

 

[My Cozen Dylan]

My 4 year old son comes home from school saying: "you'll like what you get, and you don't get upset."

Haven't heard that one... Always been "...don't throw a fit." Or "...don't mind a bit."


Let's go out there and COMPETE!...(and lose, but lose with COMPETE!)

 

[Afino]

Plenty of tickets still available!

 

[OkimLom]

5-4 Columbus

Buffalo goals:
Ennis, Stafford, Moulson, Gionta

 

[brian_griffin]

10-9 regulation loss. Reinhart with all 9 goals.

Nice Myllz. I laughed out loud.

5-4 Columbus

Buffalo goals:
Ennis, Stafford, Moulson, Gionta

Who's the poster who runs Sabre Survivor? Enrothorne? We doing that this season?

Edit: found it...

 

[stokes84]

Predictions:
i) We win this game convincingly
ii) Ennis and Stewart both have great games.
iii) Sabres board explodes in panic

I am looking forward to this.

 

[Zip15]

I think they're going to win this one, actually. I'll say 4-1, Sabres. Followed by a few posters patting themselves on the back and telling everyone that, just as they predicted, this team is not bad. The Sabres then go 3-8-2 in their next 13 games.

Atkinson

Stewart
Ennis
Moulson
Hodgson

 

[MacOfNiagara]

If they're keeping Zadorov up for a 10 game evaluation, they would dress him right? I'm not suggesting that he's NHL ready.

I believe the cutoff is nine games. They would likely dress him, but I know that some teams have ocassionaly sprinkled in some watch from the pressbox games to stretch the decision / return to AHL/Junior date out a bit.

I suspect he will play.

 

[Sabretooth]

wooo o man o man its hockey season!!!!

 

[ZZamboni]

So Zadorov already played 7 regular season games last season. Does that mean he can only play 2 regular season games this season before sending him back? Or is the slate wiped clean and he has another 9 regular season games he can play before being sent back?

 

[Woodhouse]

Buffalo's lines are unchanged from Tuesday's practice, as Ryndak has noted this morning that Wednesday's practice lines remain:

26 Matt Moulson – 63 Tyler Ennis – 21 Drew Stafford
82 Marcus Foligno – 28 Zemgus Girgensons – 80 Chris Stewart
19 Cody Hodgson – 23 Sam Reinhart – 12 Brian Gionta
44 Nicolas Deslauriers – 8 Cody McCormick – 65 Brian Flynn – 17 Torrey Mitchell

4 Josh Gorges – 57 Tyler Myers
61 Andre Benoit – 41 Andrej Meszaros
6 Mike Weber – 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
51 Nikita Zadorov – 24 Tyson Strachan

1 Jhonas Enroth
34 Michal Neuvirth

 

[leo2892]

I think they're going to win this one, actually. I'll say 4-1, Sabres. Followed by a few posters patting themselves on the back and telling everyone that, just as they predicted, this team is not bad. The Sabres then go 3-8-2 in their next 13 games.

Where have I seen this before...

 

[Woodhouse]

Columbus' lines were tweaked a bit with Johansen practicing today:

Shawn Mitchell @smitchcd 25m
First line rushes: Foligno-Johansen-Atkinson; Hartnell-Anisimov-Dano; Calvert-Letestu-Wennberg; Skille-Chaput-Boll. #CBJ